ELBERFELD. 
229 
less than 240 square yards at least 120 square yards must be unoccupied ; but 
corner sites may be built upon to the extent of one-half. Where in the inner 
zone a street is 26 feet wide, the front of a building may have a height of 
47 feet 6 inches ; where the street is more than 26 feet wide the height may 
increase to the same extent ; and where the street is narrower it must be to the 
same extent reduced. The highest number of stories permissible is five, including 
the basement. The height of back buildings is similarly regulated, except that 
the courtyard instead of the street is here the basis of measurement. In the 
outer district the shell of a building may not exceed 52 feet in height, and no 
dwelling house may have more than three stories in addition to the cellar and 
attic stories. The minimum permissible height of rooms in new buildings is 
9 feet 9 inches, except in the case of attic rooms, which are allowed to have a 
mean height of only 8 feet 1^ inches. In addition, it is stipulated that in certain 
of the higher portions of the town the “ open ” plan of building must be followed ; 
here only detached houses of the villa type are allowed to be built, and industrial 
buildings of every kind are excluded. Coming to the internal arrangement of 
dwelling houses, it is required by the police regulations that bedrooms shall 
contain at least 353 cubic feet of space for each person above ten years belonging 
to the household using them, and for each child under ten years at least 176| 
cubic feet, infants under one year not counted. Where this condition as to 
space is not met, a room is held to be over-crowded. Single persons above 
14 years of age must be able to sleep in separate bedrooms or compartments in 
the same, while every married couple must have a separate room or compartment 
for themselves and their children under 14 years of age. Every bedroom must 
have a window, opening outside, and not less in area than one-twelfth of the 
floor space ; but this provision does not apply to living-rooms. Attic rooms 
may only be used as bedrooms when they have completely plastered or boarded 
walls. Every house (not dwelling) must be provided with at least one privy, 
accessible to all residents. These regulations apply to all new buildings. 
Retail Prices. 
Groceries and other Commodities. 
Elberfeld is abundantly provided with shops for the sale of groceries. This 
appears to be particularly true of the working-class streets, in every one of 
which are to be found several such shops, all doing business in a very modest 
way and all apparently conducted by women. The only grocery enterprise of 
the “ multiple” sort is that carried on by the “Befreiung” Co-operative Society, 
which has 16 branch shops in the town, all selling at the same prices. This 
society numbers between 5,000 and 6,000 members in the town, and claims to 
be the regulator of retail grocery prices. There appear to be good grounds for 
the claim, for it happens not infrequently that a grocer on being questioned 
about prices will refer his questioner to the Co-operative Society as the most 
trustworthy authority on the subject. 
With regard to the quality of the articles consumed the following points 
may be noted. For coffee 11¿/. per lb. was the price almost invariably paid by 
workpeople in October, 1905, the kind sold being Santos. Along with the 
coffee it is usual to buy either roasted barley or rye, or prepared malt, which is 
mixed with the coffee in equal proportions. The prices were, for roasted 
barley 1Jd., for roasted rye 2d., and for prepared malt 2\d. per lb., the latter 
being the most in demand. There is little demand in Elberfeld for sugar-glazed 
coffee, the glazing being regarded as a device for concealing inferiority of 
quality. The Co-operative Society already named sold in the year 1904-5 
33,100 lb. of malt coffee, against 73,952 lb. of bean coffee. 
White granulated sugar (Stampfzucker) is the only quality consumed, 
the price usually paid being a fraction under 2\d. per lb. I here is a large 
consumption of bacon, both fresh and cured, and the remarks made on this head 
in respect of Düsseldorf apply also to Elberfeld ; 9\d. per lb. was the price 
most generally paid both for fat and lean bacon. Austrian and Russian eggs 
are usually bought by the poorer classes in the winter months (including